Food for thought: Doubt cast on importance of breakfast

Several trials were also conducted to examine the effect of eating or skipping breakfast on bodyweight and energy intake.

The effect of breakfast on weight did not differ between people with a normal weight and those who were overweight.

Despite what we've been told for years, breakfast is not the most important meal of the day for weight loss or to prevent the onset of hunger.

The review also didn't find any significant differences in metabolic rates between breakfast skippers and breakfast eaters.

Few of the studies blinded the volunteers, meaning they knew if they were eating breakfast or not. But new research suggests this might not be true.

The researchers wrote: "This study suggests that the addition of breakfast might not be a good strategy for weight loss regardless of established breakfast habit".

According to The Independent, Dr Frankie Phillips, registered dietician for the British Dietetic Association, told Press Assocation: "Whilst some studies do show that people who eat breakfast tend to be a healthier weight, there is no clear benefit of starting to eat breakfast just as a tool to lose weight".

Experts from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, examined 13 randomized controlled trials related to breakfast and weight in high income countries, including the United Kingdom.

As tempting as this might be if you have a weight-loss goal, the reality is that regularly skipping breakfast, or any meal, can be risky.

For some people this means skipping breakfast, but for others it can be eating your final food of the day in the afternoon.

"We should not change diets to include breakfast eating in order to lose weight".

Its reputation as the nutritional backstop to our day stems from observational studies showing a positive link between people eating breakfast and having a healthy weight.

"We found that those who ate breakfast tended to eat about 260 extra calories per day more and on average gain 0.44kg", said the paper's co-author Flavia Cicuttini, a Monash professor of clinical epidemiology.

Still, some people just can't bring themselves to chow down in the morning, and with the growing popularity of eating plans like intermittent fasting, it raises the question: Is breakfast really best? Making healthy lifestyle choices, eating balanced meals and getting active as often as possible will probably be more effective in helping you lose weight than skipping breakfast.

The authors warned that because of the varying quality of the studies included, the findings should be interpreted with caution.

For decades, health experts have exhorted people not to miss breakfast, with warnings that those trying to keep their weight down by missing a meal will simply end up snacking more later. For one, if you run early in the day and don't eat beforehand, that can make you hungrier and more likely to eat more later on in the day, she says.

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